I don’t typically like to call it too early when it comes to how a game is going to stack up amongst the year’s releases, but sometimes it’s so clear that you just gotta. Last year, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was THE game; the one that was a clear masterwork that outshined everything else. This year, for me, that game is almost certainly Mina the Hollower. It’s not going to be the mainstream sensation that Expedition 33 was, but it’s absolutely an instant classic in the same way. I don’t know exactly what kind of expectations I had, but they were definitely blown out of the water.

I don’t say this as a Shovel Knight fan, either. Actually, even though I think the game always looke really fun, I’ve never actually gotten around to playing Shovel Knight. I couldn’t tell you why. Either there were other games I wanted to play more or I was in one of those states wherein I just didn’t want to play any games at all. So, Mina the Hollower represents my first hands-on experience with a game by Yacht Club Games. Had I known it’d be like this, maybe I would have made Shovel Knight more of a priority.

Okay, so what’s so great about Mina the Hollower, right? “How could could a game that takes its cues from the Game Boy Color era be,” you’re probably thinking, yeah? Well, like I said above, Mina the Hollower isn’t a generational game like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. There aren’t going to be any YouTube videos diving deep into the lore or trying to analyze its themes or philosophies. People likely aren’t going to praise it for its art, music or boss fights like they did for Hollow Knight: Silksong either. What they are going to say, though, is that it’s a blast to play!

This is what really makes Mina the Hollower work for me, that it was made, from start to end, to be fun first, with everything else coming second. You can play it however you like, because, no matter what you do or where you go, you can make progress. All of Mina’s items and equipment are merely tools. You don’t explicitly need any of them in order to enter any of the major areas or even to complerte them. All of the game’s secrets are yours to find right from the word “go!” too! It’s just a matter of using your noggin to figure out how to get them.

You definitely want the tools, of course. They make everything easier and add a ton of variety, not to mention making you actually feel like you’re getting more skilled and powerful. But, the reality is that they’re just there for you to use if you want rather than being essential to progression. This is what sets the game distinctly apart from old Zelda and metroidvania-style games, as both lock progression behind items and/or gear. At the same time, Mina the Hollower is not structured like a modern open world game, either.

There’s no aimless wandering, points-of-interest or busywork quests randomly scattered about, and no infuriating grinding whatsoever. The entire island is 100% handcrafted and carefully curated in the way that games used to be. Everything from dungeon structure to enemy placement is deliberate, and it’s all meant to simultaneously challenge you and get you thinking “what if?”.

“What if I baited that enemy over here first?” “What if I tried this combination of trinkets?” “What if I tried throwing the axe over there?” “What if I steal this entire ladder and take it outside?” All of these are questions you’ll likely end up asking yourself at some point, and doing so always pays off! Curiousity and sense of adventure are greatly rewarded in Mina the Hollower, as is sheer combat skill. Don’t worry if you’re not good at combat, though. Just turn on one of any number of difficulty modifiers and customize the experience to your liking! It’s all good so long as you’re having fun!

I love that this game, unlike Silksong, doesn’t take itself too seriously. There are no overly trying boss fights and no deliberately, ridiculously long runbacks should you die. Sure, there’s some challenge, but it’s not trying to be yet another 2D take on Dark Souls. Yacht Club Games wants you to enjoy yourself in Mina the Hollower. It wants you experiment with all the cool weapons, sidearms and trinkets you collect during your adventure. It wants to fell like the accomplished veteran Hollower that Mina is by the end of it!

(And yeah, as much as I love Hollow Knight and Silksong, both were very obviously trying to be hard at certain points, and that’s more frustrating than it is fun. Sorry, not sorry.)

I’ll get more into the nitty gritty as to what makes Mina the Hollower so special in a later post once I’ve finished it. But, for now, I’m very confident in saying that the game is an absolute blast and a must-play for anyone who likes SNES or Game Boy Color-era action-adventure games. Check it out if you’ve got the time!

Have you tried Mina the Hollower yet? If so, what do you think so far? If not, what’s your favorite game of 2026 at the moment?

Image from the Steam page